1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to new and improved panels for bowling lane structures. More particularly, it relates to new and improved panels which provide bowling lane surfaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Standard bowling lanes are often constructed of suitably finished hardwood blocks or planking. In such a lane bed, usually about 41 to 42 inches wide, the construction typically consists of from about 39 to 42 maple planks or boards about one inch thick laid edgewide in line with the longitudinal axis of the lane. The surface of the lane is made flat and coated with varnish or lacquer which is then treated as with mineral oil to reduce wear and adjust the coefficient of friction or slippage of the surface in order to produce uniform action and control of the bowling ball. The surface finish consists typically of a nitrocellulose or polyurethane lacquer which can be treated with plasticizers and other additives to provide with the oil treatment the desired wear and slippage or friction characteristic.
While wooden lanes have been in use for many years, they are subject to a number of deficiencies. For example, present wooden lanes can be easily and severely damaged in the areas of ball release and at the pin deck. Such damage in the ball release area is intensified by lofting of the ball which, upon impact, dents the lacquered and oiled wooden surface. Even normal releases of the ball damage the lane although to a lesser degree. Surface damage in the pin deck area is primarily caused by contact of the struck pins with the surface. Under ordinary circumstances, standard bowling lanes are inspected and often sanded and refinished on an annual basis. Such refinishing is necessary in order to meet set bowling standards and in order to provide uniformity of all lanes so that comparable performance and scoring can be attained insofar as these factors are controlled by the physical condition of the bowling lane itself as opposed to the skill of the bowler.
Materials other than wood have been suggested for use in bowling lanes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,531,168 teaches a top surface layer for bowling alleys formed of laminated plastic compounds such as phenolic, vinyl, acrylic, cellulose acetate, etc. And U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,722 discloses bowling alley lanes formed of sections of laminated fibrous sheet material plies. Other materials have also been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,049 (a moisture curable polyurethane coating composition suitable for finishing bowling lanes); U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,060 (metal bowling alley lanes); U.S. Pat. No. Re. 25,496 (granite as a material for fabricating bowling alley lanes); U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,396 (hard rubber as a bowling alley lane material); and U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,468 (grass like carpet useful in covering a game alley). None of these wood substitutes have proven to be commercially acceptable and wood lanes predominantly remain the materials in common usage today.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,526 discloses a finished laminated board with a finished plastic laminate surface wherein the layers of plastic and the wood are joined in a single manufacturing operation and wherein all but one or two of the phenolic resin backing layers are eliminated. The plastic layers are melamine resin impregnated papers. The wood comprises plywood, compressed particle boards or wood shavings boards. U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,614 discloses compressing a mixture of thermosetting plastic and discrete wood particles to form a workpiece, compressing the wood at the surface beyond its elastic limit to form a hardened layer and curing the thermosetting plastic of the workpiece while applying a finishing layer of plastic on the surface and while compressing the layer. An outer layer of thermosetting resin may be pressed on the surface of the board and cured concurrently with the setting of the thermosetting material of the workpiece. And U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,272 discloses the lamination of resin-containing papers, termed "overlay", to forest products such as plywood, particle board, hardboard and the like. The impregnating resin is concentrated in the surface portion of the base sheet material. Aminoplast resins are used such as melamine, substituted melamines, cycloaliphatic guanamines and mixtures thereof.
Japanese application No. SHO-50-111020 laid open for inspection on May 18, 1976 as Publication No. SHO-51-56548, corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 506,069, filed Sept. 16, 1974, now abandoned, (the disclosure of which was carried forward in U.S. patent application No. 926,604, filed July 21, 1978 [hereinafter the 926,604 application ]) and discloses a high pressure laminate surface suitable for bowling alley lanes. These bowling lane surfaces have been successfully tested in the United States and been welcomed as an advance in the art. See e.g. Bowling January, 1977 at page 6.